Asylum
by Nightmare on Titan
Summary: Watch songbird sits so sadly, so broken, from her cage which she can never leave. Watch as songbird's world crashes down around her. Watch as songbird finds out that everything she once knew is a lie. ***EXTREMELY EDITED. I PROMISE THIS ONE WILL STAY UP***
1. Chapter 1

***screech* GUESS WHO FOUND THE OLD COPIES OF ASYLUM**

**THIS BITCH RIGHT HERE**

She miss the days when she was up north at her friends grandparents cabin. Everything seemed wonderful. Standing in the lake water, the waves crashing in against the front of her, her fingers curled in her matted wet hair. Her high pitch squeals of shock as the cold water hit her, wiggling her toes between the mucky sand. Or swimming in the murky water, avoiding the barnacle covered rocks at the bottom, walking through the reeds, and carefully swimming over the slime covered rocks that almost reached the surface, or climbing up onto the swimming dock and lay on on top of all the feathers and crab shells, her legs dangling off the side, my feet wading in the water. The sun was hot, and beating down, but it was warm and felt good against her skin from swimming in the ice cold water. She would lay there for what seemed like forever, looking up into the bright blue sky, watching the fluffy white cloud roll by. Or when she was spending time with my two life long friends Sabrina and Mickey, and her little brother as they huddled around the camp fire, joking with each other, and telling stories while we cooked marshmallows or hobo pies. She would always come back out after everyone was asleep and sit by the fire pit in her night gown, watching the dying red embers under all the ash. They would glow dimly, and pulsate and stream of calm air blew by. It casted wicked shadows across the grass. It was alway windy at night, and her hair used to be fairly long, so it would fly around in the air like seaweed would underwater. Sometimes she would sit out at the dock instead, her feet in the water. She would lay back and stare up at the sharp silver lights that pierced through the smoldering purple sky. Her hand would reach up as if she could touch the lights, as if she could catch them and watch their brilliance glow, and wonder, how many other stars there were just like them out there, in the big wide universe. And she would dream of keeping them in a jar forever and watch them float around like fire flies that would never die, or never grow dimmer. Or she would stare out into cloudy water and wonder what would happen if she jumped in and stayed under. She imagined my lungs would burn like the hot coals from the fire pit were being shoveled down her throat and were smoking in my lungs. And then she'd become a mermaid, and swim out to the deepest depths of the lake and live there, being a princess, living in peace with the sea critters and herself. And that she'd meet a husband, and marry him, and have little babies. And they'd never grow old and they'd live out the rest of their lives together.

But she was nothing but a mere child then, living in a world of fantasy and wonder. Things were just about the opposite now. She was older, and was worn and scarred. Her life was more of hell than anything. Locked in a padded room, day and night, only taken out for two hours, one of those being tested on. Her temples still hurt from the last testing session. She looked like something you might snake out of your drain. Her dark brown hair, matted and tangled, and greasy, once green eyes were dim and pale now, completely drained of life. Her skin was pale and grey, heavy black bags under her eyes and the worry lines in her face made her look older than she actually was. The only clothes she had were the ones on her back and a spare that were kept somewhere else. She wore a simple white cotton t-shirt that was far to large, and matching huge white pajama pants held up by elastic. Her face was stained from tears that have long passed. The padding in her room was white with blue pinstripes. They were faded, and splotched with mysterious yellow and brown stains. The only light was from a far up barred window that only streamed in dim light. There was a small windows on each wall that led to other rooms. Right now only one of those rooms were occupied.

Her door swung open with a thunderous crack. She didn't need to look up to know who it was. It was her guards, Lars. He was a bulky man with a snarky attitude that was intolerable. His head was shaven clean, and poorly shaved stubble covered his jaw. His eyes were like the steel of her door, heavy, grey, and rusted. He smirked, his off white teeth cracked from years of patient flailing and just generally going nuts. He physically picked her up, forgetting the code and conduct as many guards had in the hospital. They were secluded on a small island, so it wasn't like the state was coming in any time soon to make sure they were all paying mind to the rules. In all honesty, the hospital itself was a death trap where parents who didn't want to deal with their psycho children swept them under the rug, to hide their family's disgrace.

"Time for free time, princess." She put up no protest and allowed him to carry her off. She never really spoke much anymore, it was useless, they never listened anyways. Most of what came out of everyone's mouth was screams and babbling that held little to no value. Eventually he set her down. It was in the free time room, where mostly everyone did crafts, huddle in clumps of people and talk, or just sit there and say nothing. She was one of those people that were almost catonic. She sat at a table, resting her head in her arms. A cheery, happy, bubbly girl bounced over to her. It was Grace, possibly the happiest person in the entire asylum.

"Hey, hey, Fang, hey, hey, guess what?" Fang gave her an annoyed glare. Even though she drove her up the wall, Fang guessed she was the only person that she would consider a friend. She had long, sleek, red hair, freckled face, and brown, honey colored eyes. She was the same age as Fang, seventeen. She held a piece of brown plastic in her hand. Fang automatically knew what she was over here for. She immediately started combing her hair.

"I want you to look very pretty today, 'cause I was listening to some of the guards talking, and we're going to have four new guys, and they're going to be in our cell block! I saw some of the pictures, and man, they are so cute! I think you'll like them, oooh, I love their names too, Cole, Jay, Kai, and Zane. Do you think they'd be our friends? I mean, no one wants to be friends with us, and no one might want to be friends with them, and that would mean we would have more friends, and friends are everything, in the end in here, they're the only thing you have left. Oh, your hair looks so pretty now! I think the new guys will love it!" Fang caught her reflection in a window. Her hair wasn't matted or tangled anymore, it was brushed out and looked somewhat normal. It had been restored to the a line short hair it used to be. Shorter in the back and longer in the front.

Two large doors slammed open, yes, they did slam open, it is possible. Four people were shoved in, tumbling to the floor. The doors were shut again, leaving them in a daze. Typical of the hospital to treat the new people with such curtousy. Curious, Fang got up, along with Grace, and crouched down next to them. The four of them slowly started to get up. The two girls stood upright along with them. The four of them awkwardly stood there as the other two stared at them, Fang with faint curiosity and boredom, and Grace with pure excitement. Grace went and took all of them into a hug, much to their surprise. The guard that was watching over them all only spared a glance and grunted.

"Hi! My name is Grace, this is Fang! So you're the new guys huh? Cool! We've never had guys new people board in this cell before, usually it's people that were too odd for the others and got transferred! Fang doesn't talk much, but I think I cover for her most of the time! So why're you guys here, I don't mean to be pushy, but I just want to know, so I don't mention something that makes you guys sad or uncomfortable." Grace's face was lit up with a bright smile.

"Um, well, I think I speak for all of us here, we're here because were delusional, and really are insane." The one with black hair and bushy eyebrows said. Fang snorted and crossed her arms. She really wanted to add a comment about how everyone here was like that.

"I thought we were here under-" The one with white hair started to say before he was elbowed in the ribs by the one with black hair.

"Zane!" The auburn hair boy whined.

"What he means is, were very under the weather. By the way, I'm Jay, and this is Kai and Cole." Said the auburn hair boy. He pointed to the other two.

"As you know I'm Grace, and I'm here because I burned down my orphanage. Twenty four dead, no survivors. Fang here is in because she sees ghosts, and she might've maimed the paramedics when they were putting her in the ambulance to take her here, though, I'm not sure because she has only said, like, maybe twenty words since I've met her, but it seems like something she'd do." Fang growled at her for being so loose and comfortable around the new people. She didn't even know if they could trust them yet, and she was blabbing away about their life story. Grace ushered all of them towards one of the tables, gabbing about something that had to do with the possibility of getting a TV in the free time room.

"Oi, Prin," someone shouted from the doors that the boys had been shoved through. It was another patient, Craig. He had mousey hair and wide, doe eyes that were the same color as his hair. Prin had been something of a nickname to her, since everyone knew Lars called her princess. She turned toward the boy, who was always a nervous bundle of energy and wore scrubs that were always too big on him. Fang looked from where she was slouched over, intently staring at swirls on the table, trying to make out a shape. Craig was pointing to the door where Kai, Cole, Jay, and Zane had been so carelessly tossed in. There waited a man dressed in a white lab coat, flocked by two nurses and Lars. She bit the inside of her lip, contemplating whether it would be worth it to jump ship and bolt past them, but the chances of getting caught were high, and she didn't want another week in isolation. She sighed and got up, padding over to where the group was waiting. Lars, surprisingly, didn't grab her roughly like he did when he normally took her out of her cell. She supposed he had gotten scorned by her doctor after he noticed the bruises on her. Though they tortured her with countless injections and shock therapy sessions, they never physically harmed her. He only sneered at her as she passed by him.

**Ahahaha, so sorry to everyone who had followed this story. Since I only have like six chapters, and I don't have the character sheets, I'm going to have to make do.**


	2. Chapter 2

All she could and wanted to see was the familiar padded door in front of her, waiting for something to happen to it. She wanted to get out of there, she wanted to be rid of this sickening place. All that she could see were the four nasty walls of her room, and the sterilized walls of the hospital, and feel the sterilized hearts of the doctors, and she would think about how all of the cleaner in the world couldn't rid her of this feeling, the feeling of insecurity, wide open for the world to rip apart piece by piece. She will remember all the times she thought about how the scent of bleach made her wish to pour it in her eyes, pour it in her mouth, cleanse her of everything that clung from her fragile heart that had learned it was better to suffocate from the thick callous it had grown around itself than to let other touch it, grab it, break it and burn all the pieces that were left.

Fang usually imagined she was back on the farm she was raised on, lying far back in the fields and staring at the stars, how her fingertips used to trace the outline of her ribs, clicking off each one and counting them as if to reassure herself they are all there. A cage to hold in the fear, a shield to hold out the world. She would lift her hand to count each and every piercing light, knowing it was an impossible task but daring to do it anyway. She would reminisce how she would so freely and carelessly dream in starfire and ash, sinking into the galaxies and wrapping herself up in their light. She would fall asleep, and dream about how she came alive in the constellations, the pain burning back the edges of her vision so she might see more clearly.

But when she would open her eyes, all she could see was a small bit of the dark smokey sky, and a few dots of the silvery light that would gleam into her eternal prison teasing her about how free they were, like waves in the ocean, or leaves in the breeze. They weren't contained, and they could go anywhere in the vast universe. She was a bird, trapped in her cage, unallowed to leave what was supposedly her sanctuary, there to protect herself and others. But she was a human being, not some animal they could toy around with. She would grip the fabric of her clothes and turn onto her side, trying to hold back the tears, for Grace's sake, as she tried to remember what it was like to be free, to feel the breeze on her skin and ruffling her hair.

One of Grace's slim hands slipped through the bars of the window that acted as a small gateway of hope that reminded her she wasn't completely alone in this crazy place. It waved up and down, trying to get her attention. Fang wanted to ignore her, just on the verge of sleep.

"Fang, pst, hey, Fang!" It was the middle of the night, so the other occupants that were in the rooms that had windows between their rooms were asleep. Basically, the four new guys. She sat up and crawled over to her window and grabbed the two bars with her hands. Grace wrapped her hands around Fang's and brought her face to the window so they could hear each other without waking the boys.

"What?" she whispered. She had almost fallen asleep, into a peaceful, and hopefully, dreamless sleep. Grace's honey color eyes darted around, trying to see through the dark from previously being asleep. Saying that though, it took a lot, it must've been the first word she might've spoken in months. She never found a reason to talk. Grace was the only reason she had actually spoken a syllable. Before she arrived, Fang might as well of been labeled mute, but she found herself occasionally uttering a word or two at a time for her new found friend's sake.

"Wow, you actually spoke, that's amazing! But, I was listening to the warden talking with a guard, apparently, some of the nurses that help out with your treatment, they were found dead, completely ripped to shreds! Can you believe it? They're thinking a patient got loose and killed them, they said they might put the whole building on lock down, but none of the patients are missing. They said theyre gunna move us to a different wing because the lab is close to us." Fang just stared at her in shock. People being ripped apart? That sounded more like something an animal would do that a patient. Even if every soul here, alive or not, was completely insane, they weren't that bad. At least the ones in this building. The other building was where they kept the truly insane ones, who were kept in strait jackets and never saw the light of day again.

"Hold on, I have an idea!" Grace held up a finger then went and crawled over the window that showed into Cole's room. Luckily, from what she could see, Cole was sitting up, asleep, by the window. Grace wormed an arm through the bars and tapped him on the head repeatedly. His eyes shot open. He grabbed her by the arm and was about to break it or something.

"Jeez! Relax! It's just me!" Grace whispered. It was easily heard in the still, silent, air. His shoulders relaxed a bit.

"What do you want?!" he asked in a hushed tone. He was wearing the same white uniform as everyone else. Lucky him, he got clothes that fit him. Grace adorned the same thing as the other too, but as Cole had, her clothes fit her.

"We need your help with something. Do you think you could break the bars on the windows to Fang's and my room?" she asked in. He simply nodded. He grabbed onto the two bars on their window and easily broke it off. The metal gave a protesting sound as it was pulled from their place. The two girls marveled at his strength for a few moments before the small window on Fang's door flipped open.

"What's goin' on in there!" Lars yelled at them.

"Nothing sir, just making weird noises!" Cole shouted over. Lars gave a disapproving grunt as the porthole closed. Fang glanced over at the two. Grace had managed to wiggle through the open with ease. Cole went over and did the same to Fang's window. She slipped through it easily, skinny from malnutrition.

"What're you guys up to?!" he hissed through his teeth. Grace pointed to the ceiling, well an air duct to be precise. It was a lot larger than the ones in their rooms, it was one they could actually fit into.

"We need to go check something out, wanna come?" Cole nodded. It was amazing what that boy could do sometimes. He jumped up and easily ripped the cover of the vent off. He gave Fang a boost just like a cheerleader would. She clambered up into the air ducts, soon followed by Grace and Cole. It was awkward, but Grace managed to make her way in front of the other girl to lead them to the lab. They all crawled though the vent for a few minutes of silence.

"You guys, I don't think this will sup-" Cole was cut of by a loud creaking. They all looked at each other. The expression on their faces were along the lines of 'oh shit'. There was a loud crash and the bolts connecting the two sections of vents gave out, sending them falling out. Naturally, Fang ended up on the bottom. She'd always had the worst of luck. It only got worse when they landed behind a huge crowd of people, mostly patients from their ward. There was so much talking and shouting that they didn't hear them. How that is possible, the world may never know. The three of them quickly stood up and joined the crowd. Grace went up to a guard and tugged on his shirt sleeve.

"Mister guard guy, what's going on? I can't remember what's happening." Grace rubbed her eye and yawned, acting like a small child who just got out of bed. The guard rolled his eyes. He himself had a child, and couldn't resist someone of such innocence

"Where did you guys come from?" He asked in a stern voice.

"Cell block F," Fang snapped quickly. She didn't have the patience to deal with such people of him. Occasionally, she did go through boughs of speaking but they only lasted for short periods of time, and were sparked by sheer annoyance. Grace always ended up being surprised by them, no matter how long she had known Fang. He didn't appreciate that one bit. He grabbed her by the front of her shirt and hoisted her up to eye level with him. She didn't even flinch.

"I don't like your tone missy." This is what she hated the most, the guards could get away with anything they pleased, just because we were 'insane'. Fang crossed her arms. She saw three familiar faces glance over. It happened to be the three other occupants of cell block F, Jay, Kai, and Zane. She had drawn quite a lot of attention to herself.

"I don't like yours either," she panned. Her face was a blank slate, her eyes seemingly staring into her soul. He let out a growl and threw her to the floor. Grace and the other were right there to help her up.

"Listen you little runt, I get paid good money to make sure you looneys are kept in line and out of trouble, so if your just gunna go against me, you're not exactly going to make it out of this day without being beaten to a pulp first. And the best part is, I get out scotch free, and if you fight back, you get put in solitary confinement. Now what's gunna be, isolation, or actin' nice and go on your merry way?" Fang went to lunge for him, to attack him and rip him to shreds, just like the nurse was. She was tolerable when it came to most things the guards said, but when someone threatens her, it's all a matter of time. The rest of her cell block, and those from a few other held her back, and walked her where they were supposed to wait until we found out which room they'd be in, in the other ward. They all were telling her it wasnt worth it, to be put in isolation for a week.

"You're so fucking lucky they were here, you'd be dead if they weren't! I'd be drinking your blood now, and watch the pain and suffering in your eyes, I would enjoy your agony you bastard!" she screamed out at him as she was forcefully dragged away, by people she actually didn't mind, this time.

"Fang, calm it! They just assigned us our new room, we're gunna have room mates and beds!" Grace grabbed her by the shoulders, squealing happily. Fang wearily looked at her. She was trying to distract her from what just happened, she hated when people distract her from her emotions. She couldn't get enough energy to do anything, talking had really drained her. She could already feel the lapse ending. Grace grabbed her by the hand and excitedly ran her into the room. The boys followed close behind.

The room was about the size of twelve rooms put together. It was padded, but a cream color, and was actualy clean, and stain free. She had heard rumors that they had put in new rooms, but she had only thought of them of what they were, rumors. There were eight people already in there, six girls, two guys. She recognized a few of them from Group Therapy. They all wore the same white uniforms as the others. Fang cursed when she saw that their fit themselves too. Was she the only one whose clothes didn't fit her? Or did they all receive the same size and she was just tiny?

There was a girl, she thought her name was Shana, with black hair and red, dark blue, and dark purple highlight in her hair. She had a pale complexion, and had an air about her that spoke that she was the leader of the group.

There was also Kiara, who had long, textured brown hair and dark, almost black, eyes. From what Fang knew, she was almost as insane as Grace, and acted somewhat childish during group. Whenever it was her turn to talk, though, she would get this weird, dark look and refuse to talk to anyone about anything.

And there was Skylar, she had long black hair hanging from her back in a pony tail, red eyes, and fair skin that was littered with scars. She noted that Skylar had ripped her pants to they freed her calves. Fang saw that Craig was there, his hair a huge mess as always. He grinned brightly when he saw everyone enter.

She had no idea who the other two people were. The only other guy had longish black hair, like a thinned out version of Cole's. He had very pale skin and emerald eyes that seemed to almost glow. He had holes on his lip from where piercings once were.

The last girl had golden hair with streaks of lighter blond, yellow eyes with hints of red in the middle, and lightly tanned. She looked feral. Fang decided to keep an eye on her, she could very well of been the person who had killed that nurse.

They all looked over at them. There was a silence, no one knew what to say. That tends to happen when you mix a bunch of people together. Grace finally stepped forth. "Hi! My name's Grace! This is Fang, Cole, Jay, Kai, and Zane! It's cool to finally share a room, right! I mean I used to share a room and it was the best thing ever but after this place I didn't but now I do again. I really hope this isn't temporary though, because you all seem like really cool people!" The raven haired guy pinched his nose and shook his head, clearly annoyed by Grace's ramblings. Who Fang assumed way the 'leader' of this group of people, introduced themselves.

"I'm Shana, this is Kiara, Skylar, Craig, Sean, and Debra." She told us. The others either waved or nodded at us. The group kind of did their own this after that, the two groups both on edge. Skylar stuck close to Debra, sitting off to the side, while Craig rushed up, eagerly trying to talk to Fang who had once again clamed up. She listened though, nodding and making the occasional odd noise. Grace had drifted over to Kiara, their childish, overactive natures drew them to each other. Shana sat quietly by herself, watching over everyone, and was soon joined by Kai, Cole, and Jay, while Zane had gone over and sat next to Sean, not knowing what to do.

**lol Still as bad as the original ending, my bad**


	3. Chapter 3

**Ah, three revised chapters in a night.**

She loved how the twirling dark smoke looked against navy sky, it looked like black and grey ribbons danced in the air, spreading out everywhere, like a ballet dancer was carrying out across a stage. The three-story wooden building never stood a chance against her, a can of gasoline, some keys, and a match. How dare they put her in the accursed closet, you can't do that to Grace Deachi Marie Lamb and get away with it. The whole building was lit up in a big ball of fire. It lit up the yard beautifully, like a giant bonfire, eating away at the never-ending darkness. She loved the smell it brought over to her spot sprawled on the grass by an old oak tree further away, burning wood and flesh, like when you cook pork. The fire is what she admired the most, it was so striking against the night sky, it was all-powerful. It brought life and death, you couldn't control it, once set free, or would destroy everything in its path, consuming it all. It rushed through the dark, like a river over dirt. Except for her, she was like the stone in a river, the one darkness the fire couldn't wash away. Burning, screaming, pleading, sizzling, then finally, silence, nothing but the crackles of the fire could be heard in the abandoned field were nothing but forest and plains could be seen for miles other than the orphanage. That's when she started laughing, louder and louder, she was cackling, thinking, _'How stupid were they?'_

Thinking about that day always made her shudder. She didn't like to think about it often, it made her realize how truly insane she was. She never intended to be that monster, she didn't want to be, but she never had a choice in the matter, her insanity ruled over her heart. On her own, she never could bring herself to even kill a fly or spider. When the situation was going on it felt like she was flying on autopilot, like she wasn't even in control, like, like, like someone else took control. She curled up further in her spot against the wall. The new room was definitely different, she never knew why they would put so many people in the same room together, it was stupid, idiotic.

_"How stupid were they?" _she whispered to herself. She grabbed a lock of her hair and started running her fingers through it. Normally, when she started feeling like this, she would go over to Fang and talk to her about it. She said talk, not converse, Fang rarely talked back to her. Except for these past few hours, she seemed more talkative, she usually talked when she was upset. She wondered what she was worried about, maybe the killing? No one may know. Grace looked over her shoulder at her. She was across the room, curled up in a corner, fast asleep. All of the others were either laying on the poorly constructed cots, the floor, or sitting against walls. Grace couldn't really talk to her now because normally, it was only them around, not a lot of others.

She snapped up, sitting right side up. They never locked the door. She could get out, steal some nurse scrubs, and she could just walk out of this place, and never look back. She could get a boat, she knew they always had an old steamer in the abandoned docks. She could go to the mainland, leave this filthy shit hole behind. She knew she had gone in too far with all this. She knew it's easier said than done, but Grace could, she could just walk out. It was the fault of the newest guard, who happens to be a pot head, was to busy smoking to ensure the door was shut and locked, and that they didn't get out. She slowly stood up, making sure not to alert the others. She looked between the heavy iron door with a small window on the front, and was open a crack, and her closest friend, whose dark brown hair was sprawled over the stark white floor like a million threads against snow. She edged towards the door.

Her hand spread out on the cold heavy metal door. She looked back at Fang one more time. She was the only thing that Grace had left, all of her family, her friends, the people who cared about her, all dead, perished in the fire she started, merely because she was acting like a spoiled brat who had no control of herself. But then again, she could be free, she could come back and get her, they could live and not rot away in a dingy hospital. She took in a deep breath...

And shut the door.

~The Next Day~

"When life gives you skittles, throw them in life's face and scream 'taste the fucking rainbow!'" she yelled out at someone. It felt good to be at lunch, she'd never been to the actual lunch room, in their old cells, they gave them their lunches in their cells. The food was actually better, but was still horrible, and they gave each of them a small bag of skittles. She munched on the happily. Rule number seventy-three, enjoy the little things. She had decided to sit by the others, they seemed very nice, despite how shy they were last night, and openly wanted to be friends with them, or at least not irritated by their presence. Shana let out a snort and played with her food a little. Kiara giggled a little and took a small bite of the goop the hospital tried to pass off and mashed potatoes. Jay groaned.

"Ugh! How can anyone eat this, it's almost as bad as Cole's chili!" He pushed it away with a disgusted face. Cole pouted. Everyone else laughed or smiled, except for Shana, she didn't seem to find anything funny.

"Aw, don't be take it to hard Cole, it's probably not as bad as the toxic waste they serve as food here." Shana put a hand on his shoulder and let out a sarcastic chuckle.

"No, Jay is right, we couldn't keep anything down for a week!" Kai exclaimed. The trio of boys laughed. Cole just pouted some more. Skylar wrapped an arm around Kai and gave him a playful shake.

"Hey stop it, you're going to hurt his feelings!" Skylar told Kai with a hint of a smile. He slipped out of her grasp with a faint blush on his face.

Fang walked up miserably to the table, with a guard and two other escorting her. The girls didn't look familiar and wore the same white pyjama clothes as the rest of them. Fang dragged her feet and looked absolutely exhausted. "Peep," she grunted, not even bothering to say the whole word

One girl had long blonde hair in a ponytail, and beautiful blue eyes. She had tanned skin and a small button nose. She seemed disinterested in what was going on, but also looked as tired as Fang

The other one had long brown hair in a ponytail, light grey eyes, and a few scars littered across her face. She was slouching over a bit, and her arms were folded, resting against her stomach, like she was sick or something.

"Samantha, Cassie." Fang came and sat across from Grace, slumped over, Samantha nervously went and sat in between Jay and Fang. Cassie shyly sat next to Cole. Fang rested her chin on the table and reached her arms out. She laced her fingers with mine and played with them boredly and tiredly.

Everything seemed... Normal, like school usually was, well, at least with their group. They were chatting, sharing the occasional laugh. It brought Grace back to the old days, when they were simple children at school, spreading rumors and talking about the latest gossip and cutest boys. What she would do to be back in school, to be normal again. She never had a choice in insanity, She wanted to be normal!

"Hey, anyone want to sing a song?" Grace suggested. Ah boredom, it will drive any teenager further into insanity. Everyone looked around, not really saying anything. Fang groaned and slammed her head down onto the table rocking her head from side to side, as a silent way of saying no.

"Not this agai-" Craig's whine was cut off by Grace's loud and off-key singing.

"One hundred bottle of pills on the wall, one hundred bottle of pills! Take one down, pass it around, guzzle it down till the pills run out!"

**Well I'm going to bed, I promise to revise some more when I get home from school tomorrow.**

**~Julian**


	4. Chapter 4

It was about mid day, you could hear the shuffling feet of other patients walked to the poorly constructed cafeteria for more slop they tried to pass off as food. No one ever really ate it, they'd pick at it, then shove it in their napkins and throw it up at the ceiling, were it then hardened like cement up and became lovely homes for the local spiders and mold alike. Everyone was just lounging around, Grace, Kiara, Cole, Shana, Kai, Skylar, and Fang were sitting in a circle, playing go fish with a few decks of cards we conned off of some guard, one pack was actually a 'reward' for not flipping out and trying to attack someone for a week. Samantha was laying on a cot face down pretending to be asleep. Jay, Zane, and Sean were sitting on a cot together, poking one another and cracking jokes. Debra was curled up in a ball in a corner, fast asleep, and Craig, actually calm for once, was doodling on a piece of paper with a chunk of lead he found on the floor while Cassie watched over him curiously, while he playfully covered up what he doodling.

"King me baby!" Kiara crowed, putting down a royal flush. Everyone just stared at her for a few moments, before Kai face palmed. Fang silently wondered what the state would think if they walked in now, seeing boys and girls sharing a cell.

"Kiara, for the last time, this isn't poker or checkers!" Kai shouted in annoyance. Grace and Skylar let out a giggle. Kiara's eyebrows bunched together as she stared down at her cards in confusion. Shana almost cracked a smile at their room mate's confusion. Fang made a face at her before throwing her cards down.

"Someone's a sore loser~" Grace sang out before standing up. Everyone else at the playing circle stood up, stretching and yawning. Skylar's hand brushed against Kai's by accident. She quickly pulled it away, blushing, then scuttled over across the room to wake up Debra. She stretched with a yawn, rubbing against Skylar's legs. The three boys on the cot stood up. Grace went over to the door and squirmed an arm though the slot.

"Hey, hey, can we get out now? We're hungry," Grace whined, waving her arm about outside their spacious cell. She accidentally hit Lars a few times in the face, earning her a twisted wrist and a pained yelp escaping her lips. He shoved her hand back into the cell.

"Hold 'yer horses, I'm openin' it you little brats!" the gruff security guard hollard at them while pulling his clunky keys, jamming them into lock. He shoved the heavy iron door open, allowing the dark room to be filled with a dull, pale, yellow light from the single lightbulb that occupied by the small guards room outside their own. He typed in the pass code to the doorway that would lead out into the hallway.

'7348538491'

Fang made a mental note of it, thinking it could have been of some use later on.

Jay was last in line to leave the room for lunch, and was pretty happy about, last in line to see what color slop they would feed them today. It went like any other day, Lars would harass Fang and make lewd comments, she would growl and be pulled along by Grace, Kiara, and Shana. Sean would mess around with Zane by ruffling his hair and cracking jokes about Zane liking every girl in the asylum, to which Debra and Craig would giggle and blush madly, then get yelled at by Lars. Craig was an oddball, always on that odd line where no one knew if he was nonbinary or trans*. But no, something was a bit off. Once most everyone had marched out of their confinement, Jay surveyed the room behind him. There was a dark lump on one of the beds.

Samantha.

"You comin' you piece o' shit, or are you just gunna lolly gag like a fucking princess the whole time." Lars never gave him a chance to reply, and slammed the door shut. A click followed the slam of the door as the light turned off. The two were plunged into almost complete darkness. Jay shuffled his feet a bit before hesitantly going over and sitting down next to Samantha. It was quiet for a few moments after Jay sat down on the springy cot. She shifted a bit, moving her feet.

"Hey, you alright?" Jay asked, shaking her shoulder lightly, whispering. She shook him off with a shrug. Jay kept softly shaking her, trying to get her to speak to him. Within a minute she shot up, her cheeks were glistening from the thin stream of light that managed to shine through the cracks in the doors. He placed his hands over her which were resting on the cot. The tears continued to slide down her cheeks, even though she wasn't crying anymore. He could make out her thoughts perfectly. She didn't want to be in this place anymore, she was sick and tired of it, dying to get even the tiniest lick of freedom. He knew this feeling all too well.

"I don't want to be here anymore Jay," she whispered, clutching the sheet in her hands. She hung her head, her blond locks shielding her face like a curtain. She had started crying again, the tears dripping off her cheeks and onto the cot bellow. Jay, uncertain on what to do, rubbed her back.

"Hey, it's going to be okay Sam..." She hit his arm, and tried to scuttle away, ending up on the floor. Jay knew that she was in a bad pace in the moment. Sam's temper was almost nonexistent, and she would never in a million years try to hurt anyone. He knew that he needed to back off.

"No!" she screamed. "It's not going to be okay! I'm stuck here on this rock, a hundred miles away from home, and I'm never going to see my mom or dad again 'cause they think I'm a fucking psychopath!" she fell over, her face twisted up in pure rage and hurt. "I didn't mean to kill him! H-he was hurting me but they fucking believed his friends before me!" Jay crouched down next to her, his hand hovering uncertainly above her.

"Sam..." she was trembling, making weird noises when she inhaled, trying to stop herself from crying. Jay gently lied his hand on her back and when he did it was almost like a firecracker had blown up. She snapped, scrambling to get away from him. She crawled under her cot, and away from him. Her sobs were more prominent, louder, labored, and pained. He had gone too far with her, and he knew he had blown all his chances on getting her to like him. Jay went over to his cot, and lied down. He tried to make out shapes in the fabric of the ceiling as he tried to block out her pained cries.


	5. Chapter 5

It was pretty obvious that Cole had a huge crush on Shana. He always sat by her, followed her around, and looked at her with eyes of a love struck teen. At first when Fang met him, he seemed like a chill, serious, and hilarious guy, but since they were moved in with the others, he turned into pretty much any normal hormonal teenager. It was also pretty obvious that she might have certain feelings for him, though she never showed it.

It was late at night, and mostly everyone was asleep. Samantha slept soundly on her cot, occasionally twitched. Jay lied nearby her, one hand up on the edge of the cot. and everyone was in their normal spots, Sean was sleeping under Zane's cot, claiming it was a bunk bed. Cassie, Kiara, Debra, and Craig had lied in a circle together. Only Shana, Skylar, Cole, Kai, Grace, and Fang, all members of the Insomniac Owls group, were awake. They sat up in a loosely formed circle, playing poker. The Insomniac Owls were a group they had formed a few weeks ago along with other patients who couldn't sleep, whether it be natural causes, nightmares, or unspecified reasons.

"Man, I'm so going to beat you all, no use in trying to bet against me!" Grace whispered. She had the worst poker face, you could tell past her smile, and the overly cheery voice that she had the worst hand anyone could ever have.

"Grace, I see your three pieces of gum, and raise you a bag of skittles." Shana smirked, plopping the cheap red bag of rainbow candies in their pile of bets, which includes, and are not limited to, three pieces of gum, skittles, a pencil, a clump of lint, a couple of pistachio shells, a ball of tinfoil, and sixty-nine cents. Grace hung her head in shame and she put her cards down, a two of clubs, seven of hearts, a blue number five uno card, and a piece of card board that had ticket stubs childishly glued to the front. Kai and Cole suppressed their laughs.

"How do you even get a hand like that?" Skylar asked, looking over at her quizzically. Everyone else did to, their curiosity piqued. Fang glanced down and could barely make out what ay of the ticket stubs said.

"Okay, so what if I'm horrible at cheating?" Grace threw her cards in and turned around, her back facing everyone else. Skylar laid down her cards, four aces.

"Weed them and reap boys and gals." She had a confident smile on her face. We all stared in shock.

"Um, actually, I think it's read them and weep, actually." Kai's voice was hinted with a laugh. She blushed a bit.

"Oh... I guess that would make more sense." Skylar let off an awkward chuckle as she rubbed the back of her neck. Kai flashed her a smile to which her blush deepened.

"Man, we need to check out that lab though, I hear they re-opened it a few days ago, and there, already was another murder, a few hours after we got back from lunch! This time, the nurse's stomach was ripped open, like something sliced her torso open and ate all her insides!" Grace's tone was excited, and on the verge of fear. In that moment, Fang snapped.

"In a few minutes Lars' shift will end and we'll have four, five minutes at the max before the night guard comes in, and only then that one checks up on us every twenty minutes. We can use pillows and blankets to make dummies. I can get us that far, but we'll have to be careful out in the halls, there are around every corner, there are also security cameras everywhere. By the time the night guard is checking on us, the guard who watching the camera has a nap and is out for half an hour before going back to sleep for an hour. There aren't any cameras in the lab, so we should be fine, but the police will be swarming the lab, so we'll have to be extra careful, we shouldn't have to worry about the doctors though, they should be long gone by now. We can only be there for an hour at the most before the guards change shifts. We will only have a seven minute window then to get back in here and be asleep, because the guards for that shift are more strict and tend to come into the rooms. If any of us get caught, do not, I repeat, do not rat the others out. Act like you were sleep walking, and get enough attention as you can so the rest of us can escape. Then, and only then, we will send the lightest one of us, i.e. me, into the vents. I'll go and get one of the patients in another room to start a ruckus. The guard will leave, and you all will have the chance to get back into the room. If anything goes wrong, go into the broom closet near the wardens office, it leads directly to our room, but go one at a time, the vents are old and could collapse at any given moment. Just listen carefully as the person before knocks, signaling the next person to get in. Remember, they are only as a last resort." Everyone stared at Fang, both dumb founded and in shock for a few moments before Grace broke the silence.

"Well you heard the woman, let's get moving!" Everyone snapped into action, grabbing unused pillows and blankets, forming fake people out of the linen. When Lars peeped in for a moment, everyone dropped down on top of the pillows. He grunted and closed the door, letting a sliver of yellow light to shine in. They jumped up and waited until they heard the unmistakable beep of the door opening. Once it closed, the rushed to the door and Fang typed in the code.

'7348538491'

The light flashed green, emitting a buzz before the door sliding open. They all rushed out into the sterilized white hallways. They were all blinded for a moment before Grace took Fang's hand and pulled her along the seemingly endless corridors, towards to where she suspected the lab was. The others followed close behind, their hair and skin unmistakable against the stark white hallways.

The lab was a stark different from the rest of the hospital, the floors were smooth dark grey cement, along with the walls, there were filling cabinets, giant computer processors, and giant test tubes with god know what, they held dark blue and black lava like stuff in them. The walls and floor reminded Fang of the old cells where she, Grace, Kai, Cole, Jay, and Zane once resided. She did wonder about the test tubes though, they seemed oddly familiar. The place was huge though, like a warehouse. They slunk behind walls and tubes and file cabinets before they finally found what they were looking for.

The body was mangled and destroyed beyond all recognition. The bright reds sock registered to Fang as yet another nurse that was there during her treatment. Her dark skin was torn to ribbons, and she lay in a pool of her own blood. Her stomach was torn open, as Grace had said, but was worse than they could imagine. Instead of there being entrails hanging out, the inside of her was empty, like a husk. For some reason, not a cop could be found. Usually when a murder like this was committed, the police would be swarming. There was only a couple of guys in hazmat suits mopping the floor. One rolled the poor nurse into a body bag before zipping it up and hauling it over his shoulder. The other man finished mopping up before leaving with his partner. The only thing left that showed there was a murder was the rust colored stain left on the floor.

"Wow, that was intense..." Cole whispered. Everyone else nodded. They stealthily walked out onto the clearing that the body once lied in.

"This doesn't feel right. Why would they only have a couple of guys in hazmat suits instead a flock of police for a murder this grizzly?" Shana was in deep thought, trying to figure out what was happening. The sound of two heavy metals doors slamming open reverberated though the giant lab. Our heads snapped towards the sound.

"Come on now you little sons of bitches! Play nice and you might end up on life support if you're lucky!" Lars shouted out. The look of pure panic and terror was on all of their faces. Within a second, they darted off into the depths of the lab. It seemed to go on forever. But every where, they could see puddles of blood, and bones scattered about.

"Christ! This place is something out of Wes Craven's nightmares!" Grace hissed, legitimate terror etched across her face. It was a rare thing to see on such a happy go-lucky girl. For the years that Fang had known here, she had never really been scared of anything. The thought of her friend being afraid sent shivers down her spine. Just as they reached the perfect hiding place, something bad always has to happen to them. Shana tripped, twisting her ankle. The bone stuck out at an unusual angle, and she was biting down on her lip, in extreme pain.

"God fucking damn it!" She screamed. By the time the others heard here, Kai, Skylar, and Grace already had gotten into the cramped closet. Cole and Fang rushed back, helping her up. Cole held her bridal style, running over to. When they got to the closet, the other three helped support her, keeping her off her swollen ankle. Fang could hear Lars heavy footsteps as he grew closer. She panicked, closing their door and running to a closet across from them. She left it open a very slight crack. She could see Lars' hulking figure approach their door and clutch onto the knob. No, this can't happen, she couldn't let them suffer. Fang took in a deep breath and busted out of the small dark room just as he turned the knob.

"Look at me I'm a target!" she screamed before darting down the hallway. She could faintly hear Lars mutter 'worthless runt' under his breath as he chased after her. She whizzed past everything, and jumped over things she couldn't get around like they were hurdles and she was a professional runner, which as far as she know, she most certainly was not. Fang met her demise when she slipped on a mysterious light blue liquid, falling into a pile of shattered glass. she lifted herself, her body screaming to stay still. Her head lolled over, and she saw one of the test tubes had been broken open. The shards of glass were deeply imbedded into her flesh, blood oozing out of the cuts. She had gotten onto her hands and knees, that is before she was slammed back down by a heavy boot which belonged to a heavy man. He kicked Fang over onto her back, then grabbed her by the front of her shirt, lifting her up, her feet off the ground.

"Thought you could get away from me, huh princess? Well guess again, you're gonna be lucky if you fucking end up in a coma for the rest of your life." She spat blood in his face. He wiped the blood away with his other hand. He growled and wound his fist back and hauled off punched her in the face. She heard a crunch as my nose was crushed. Fang could feel the seething anger riding up, like a pot that was boiling over. Normally it would nearly pain her to speak, as it did when she spoke about her plan, but now, the words carelessly spilled from her mouth.

"Think you're so tough, beating up a psych patient, eh?" she snarled at him, teeth bared. She snapped her teeth at him. He promptly whipped Fang to the floor, giving her a sharp kick to the abdomen. She had to do something, if not, she was going to end up as the next murder in this room. She started coughing up blood, cringing at the sickening snaps as one by one her ribs cracked. With all her might, she let out a hoarse laugh, blood trickling out of the corner of her mouth. She stopped when she felt a sharp pain in her chest. Lars pinned her arm down, putting more and more pressure on it until it blossomed in pain. She could clearly see the bone sticking out of her skin.

The edges of her vision started getting blurry, and dark, all she could hear was a ringing noise But as she stared up at Lars, she could just barely make out his face. He was sneering at her with a demented smirk. Her nose burned with the scent of blood, but it wasn't her own, nor was it Lars. She shakily smiled. She knew who it was. A pale blue figure dressed in a simple white night-gown entered her sight, her entire form was tinted blue and an eerie mist followed her. Blood dripped down from her figure, only to disappear before it his the floor. She had long dark hair and kind eyes. Her nearly black hair floated around her as she looked down at Fang. Her vision soon failed her, but she could faintly hear his shrill yells beyond the ringing in her ears.

Fang smiled and went limp, a slight smile on her face as her adrenaline high wore off, bringing her down into pure serenity, She could feel her senses starting to shut down, one by one. She could feel the cold and darkness of death swaddled her in a chrysalis. Her body went lax, the only thing she could feel was cold, the icy cold that held her in a tight grip, its bony clutch digging into her skin.

**I'm so sorry, this is as far as I could get with this chapter without crying. My rat just died. He was the best rat I could have ever asked for. He died of Myto, the rat version of pneumonia. We couldn't do anything but hold him, wrapped in a blanket, and whisper comforts to him as we petted him. I'm a wreck, so expect really dark writing. I loved him so much, and now he's gone.**


End file.
